# Ya'll are a bad influence on me. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 31, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769 "2004-07-31T20:35:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769/21 "2004-08-02T21:25:58Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I’ve recently gained a customer who’s originally from Pennsylvannia. She uses a word that is apparently a contraction of “you ones”. Anybody care to disclose the appropriate spelling? Would that be “you’ns”? “y’ones” …Yo’ones? 😕 You’re right…that _is_ hard. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769/22 "2004-08-02T21:26:41Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > Y’all/Ya’ll are being mean! Could be worse. What if they were being mode? Or median? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769/23 "2004-08-02T21:32:22Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Having grown up in parts of Hillbillydom, I was never really certain how to spell the contraction of you all. y-’-a-l-l is logical, but in Georgia and Tennessee the pronounciation runs more towards y-a-’-l-l. It’s not as if you could look it up (perhaps one may now). Actually, you can look it up. Check out the chapter on contractions in any grade school grammar book, and you’ll see that the apostrophe replaces letters, not sounds. Therefore, the correct spelling is “y’all”, since the apostrophe replaces the “ou” in “you”. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769/24 "2004-08-02T21:33:38Z")
It’s y’all, regardless of pronunciation, IMHO. And I would spell you-uns like this. ---
**Author:** ![store-clerk-slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@store-clerk-slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/store-clerk-slacker)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769/25 "2004-08-02T22:14:40Z")
I misspell things all the time, usually because I’m always in a hurry, but last week has got to be the dumbest I have felt in a long time. When trying to pay by check, instead of my usual debit card, I forgot how to spell my name when it was time to sign it. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769/26 "2004-08-02T22:32:23Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > I was able to escape before they brought out the tar and feathers. That’s what you think. **MWWWAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!** Don’t look behind you! [sub]Of course I’m kidding. The woman knows how to make redeye gravy![/sub] **Bosda** , Federal Witless Program. **BWAHAHAHAHAHA** Now _that_ was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769/27 "2004-08-02T22:32:42Z")
Are y’all/ya’ll having fun beating that poor dead horse? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769/28 "2004-08-02T22:35:08Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > Are y’all/ya’ll having fun beating that poor dead horse? 🙂 Neigh. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769/29 "2004-08-02T22:41:11Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > Are y’all/ya’ll having fun beating that poor dead horse? 🙂 What killed that horse? Ah, it was a 1920’s-style “Death Ray”. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769/30 "2004-08-02T22:43:14Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve recently gained a customer who’s originally from Pennsylvannia. She uses a word that is apparently a contraction of “you ones”. Anybody care to disclose the appropriate spelling? Depends. There are a couple of places where the spelling would be _you’uns_, however, around Pittsburgh, the spelling follows the pronunciation as _yinz_. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769/31 "2004-08-02T23:23:57Z")
While we’re correcting the spelling of conversational contractions, may I bring up the following? I keep seeing some of y’all on these boards referring to other people not as old as they are, as “youngins”. WTF is that? If yer gonna contract “young” and “ones”, this would be “young’uns”, with an apostrophe. Or an overnite sensation, take your pick. Sorry, Frank. ---
**Author:** ![Zog\_10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c57346/32.png) [@Zog\_10](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zog_10)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769/32 "2004-08-03T14:47:56Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Depends. There are a couple of places where the spelling would be _you’uns_, however, around Pittsburgh, the spelling follows the pronunciation as _yinz_. I was assuming that you meant _yous_ which is actually a Philly/NJ/NYC contraction of _you_ and _guys_. If she says _yous_ that’s probably what she means. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769/33 "2004-08-03T15:05:09Z")
> [@gatopescado](#): > > What killed that horse? Ah, it was a 1920’s-style “Death Ray”. Are you sure it wasn’t some [high spirited breast flashing instead](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=269456) ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yall-are-a-bad-influence-on-me/257769.md?page=1)